Nissan Motor Company Ltd Building Operational Resiliency Case Solution

1. The case identifies several aspects of the Nissan response that were particularly beneficial. Expand on the points made in the case to identify the potential costs and benefits of these actions.

There is no doubt that the information shared by Nissan in response to the disaster that affected the company badly was indeed fruitful and beneficial for stakeholders. From these proposed actions, the company derived multiple benefits. For suppose, the received information helped Nissan by providing a way so that the company could adjust its production calendar in various regions. Doing so made it possible for them to line up their production calendar with Japan's production conditions.

Moreover, the information also benefitted Nissan because it created a possibility for other regions as well to make their valuable contribution and propose plausible solutions in order to combat the issue. The reason is that other regions had this awareness regarding the happenings in Japan, which allowed them to trade their assistance to the company to improve the situational crisis. It is to be noted that with the proposed action, a potential cost was associated, which includes individuals who were managing the crisis at the current site.

During the disaster, supply allocation also gave benefits to Nissan. It made it possible to Nissan to gain high margins and profitability by assigning a supply of goods. The company with this strategy started doing well in terms of profits and sales. Through efficient component part allocation, Nissan was able to meet customer demands during the hard times when the capacity was limited.

Also, the empowering activities of the company urged the company to make flexible decisions quickly. The empowered management was able to handle the situation through rapid decisions without making themselves involved in lengthy procedures of central authority. However, the potential cost associated with this action gave leverage to the employees to exploit the information for their personal benefits, which turned into confusion for teams on the ground when they would get contradicting information related to the disaster.

Finally, the slowing production lines helped the company reduce additional stock and manage the predicted bottlenecks. Also, vacation time shifts in April and May also created additional capacity for the company during summer times.

2. What else could Nissan have done to prepare for and respond to the disaster? Try to articulate the costs and benefits of your suggestions.

There could be other ways and activities too which Nissan might have done in response to the disaster. The company should have inculcated this drill practice in a routine as it would have broadened the horizon of employees and other stakeholders to react appropriately during crisis times. The activity would give benefit the company in a context that employees would gain an adequate number of skills that are normally needed to handle the disaster. Also, employees with sufficient skills might be helpful in reducing the intensity of damage that are emerged after the disaster.